Christmas Tree!

Last Friday Steve and I planned for our date to go get our Christmas tree. I was raised on the real deal. As a family we would bundle up and hunt out our perfect tree at a tree farm. Dad would cut it down with a saw and we would all "help" carry it back to the car. Even though it was freezing, your hands got sticky with pine sap and we would run off like crazy through the Christmas tree forest, it was one of the things I loved about the beginning of December. Sometimes we even went on my birthday!

Steve wanted to get a fake tree this year. I told him this is something I would NEVER compromise on. Fake trees just don't smell like Christmas-no, not even when you put those car fresheners on them.

So living in Utah, the closest tree farm was in Ogden. No thank you. We went to a lot across the street from Target. Steve is so funny because he doesn't really care but in the end he gets really into picking out one with just the right shape and height.

We brought it home and it fit perfectly. And even though it is skinny, I love it! Plus I like how you can see the ornaments. Last year they were kind of hidden in the bushiness of the tree-plus our tree was so big we had to cut off the back half so it would stand even with the wall.

We used gold, silver, red and green ball ornaments in different textures and levels of shininess. Also I made us an advent calendar-finally. I really wanted one last year but by the time I got around to it, it was Christmas. So this year, with a little inspiration from martha, although I think I made it much better, I put together these 24 tiny stockings out of fabric scraps and felt.

I even cut out all the little numbers and ironed them on. It took way too long but what are Sunday afternoons for? So each day has a stocking and each stocking has 2 pieces of candy in it, one for each of us. I love the way they turned out and they really help fill up the tree.